


Comfort and Joy

by EmmaOverland



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Christmas, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Fluff, M/M, Merida and Hiccup are cousins, Multi, Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 05:59:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5323112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaOverland/pseuds/EmmaOverland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiccup is the new intern at a large scale company and just trying to get by during the holiday chaos. Between his nosy cousin, a peppy office mom, his cranky boss, and the strangely alluring but total Grinch co-worker...it's just another day at the office. Holiday fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Job

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so here we go…something…Christmas-y. Well it will be Christmas, I have to build up to it. I’ve decided to try and do longer segments since that would be the easier way to read them. There will be numerous characters coming in and out and there is gonna be cross-over stuff because that’s how I live.

Hiccup sat nervously, constantly reaching up to adjust the dark green tie around his neck. He was one of many interns that had interviewed for a position at _Moon and Star_ and, like several others, had made the cut. Beside him one of his fellow interviewees was prattling on about something but Hiccup wasn’t really paying attention to it. Suddenly however a young woman with long braided blonde hair seemed to magically appear with a brilliant smile.

“Hello interns!” she greeted the group of ten sitting in front of her. “Welcome to _Moon and Star_ , Burgess Office. Now I know that several of you were not selected for the same positions but that’s okay at the end of the tour we’re gonna introduce you to your department manager and send you on your merry little ways.” Her smile widened. “I’m Rapunzel, your guide and your corporation mother…”

“You’re younger than me.” an older gentleman pointed out with a look of confusion.

The woman leveled him with a serious green stare. “I’m your corporation mother.”

“Stop scarin’ tha interns.” Merida snapped as she stepped off the elevator and tossed the apple core in her hand into the trash. “Right, we’re onta tha tour.”

Hiccup smiled a little and gave a short little wave to his cousin, the girl who’d told, to be read as threatened him into applying, him about the internship, and Merida grinned and nodded. They were in different departments which allowed them to work together, Hiccup in programming and Merida on the building security.

Rapunzel huffed before turning to look at the redhead behind her. “Everyone this is Merida, she’s our head of security here. If there is ever an issue she and her team will be on it like fat kids on cake…Oh that sounds yummy. Merida we should get cake later.”

Merida let out a long suffering sigh and merely nodded slightly. “Sure.”

“Goodie!” Rapunzel grinned and then motioned everyone to follow her into the over-sized elevator with Merida. “All right my little ones this is the first floor, the lobby. There is a parking garage that had three sublevels and those are accessible from a different elevator which is marked.” The blonde girl made a vague motion toward the other elevator, the interns looking over before hurrying into the elevator before the doors closed. “Second floor is conference rooms and for those who need it that’s where we keep the onsite daycare.”

Hiccup glanced up at the red number 3 that appeared above the doors before they opened with a cheery ding! Everyone shuffled out of the elevator and into the waiting area. There was a few chairs sitting in a small lobby off to the left and the rest of the room was opened, cubicles and various desks were set up in impressive rows.

“Third floor is where most of interns will be working, those of you who are on data entry and stuff. This is also were the break room is that serves floors one thru four.” Rapunzel explained a she began walking forward through the maze of cubicles, the interns following closely. “There are two elevators on this floor both go all the way up to Mr. Black’s office.”

“Mr. Black?” Hiccup asked suddenly, paling at the thought of the man.

Merida laughed and shook her head. “Nah, none o’ you were interviewed by THE Mr. Black. All o’ ya met and spoke wit’ yer head o’ department. Programming interns met wit’ Pitch Black, not Mr. Black who owns all o’ this.”

Hiccup let out a heavy sigh. That had been a disastrous interview but somehow he’d managed to snag the position by his more than impressive skills with computers. They continued onward, going around the room, Rapunzel stopping to introduce some of them to various people and showing them the break room, explaining the basic rules of conduct. They went up to the fifth floor, being informed that the fourth looked identical to the third except it was better equipped for the machines that the programmers would be using, and stepped out into room. There were more large desks in rows with offices that sported impressive views of the charming little city.

Their tour was halted briefly when someone ran up in a panic and dragged Rapunzel away, leaving Merida in charge of watching over the interns. The group took the time to ask questions while others looked around. This was when Hiccup saw a sight that startled and intrigued him. Glacier blue eyes were staring through the glass wall of one of the offices that looked out over the people working. The man was handsome, a youthful face with surprisingly neutral features save for his icy eyes. Hiccup’s gaze was drawn to the man’s white hair and then down to his defensively crossed arms before taking in the rather irritated look on the man’s face. Immediately Hiccup looked away and cleared his throat out of nervousness.

“Ah, ye saw Jackie boy.” Merida pointed out with a grin, laughing when her cousin jumped nearly a foot in the air. “He’s one o’ tha department heads. Damn good agent that one.”

“He doesn’t seem to like interns much.” an intern behind them said.

Merida shrugged slightly. “Nah, he’s probably on tha phone wit a client. Jack’s tha type tae pretty much like anyone…unless ya do somethin’ phenomenally stupid.” She waved at the man in question as he stepped out of his office with a much nicer smile on his face. “Oi! Jack!”

Jack’s smile widened and Hiccup resisted the urge to say something. Get a grip Haddock! He shifted a bit and glanced at the guy who’d he’d been stuck beside for the whole tour so far when the guy muttered something about pretty boys.

“What’cha got there Mer-bear?” Jack asked as he approached, hands resting on his hips casually.

“Interns.” Merida answered with that ever present grin on her face.

“Interesting.” Jack murmured as his bright eyes roamed over the group, lingering for a moment on Hiccup causing a smirk to appear on the white haired man’s face. “Very interesting.”

Rapunzel reappeared with a grin. “Hiya Jack. I see you’ve finally come out of the office. Finally get Bunny to agree to the terms?”

Jack snorted. “That’s like prying teeth from a pissed of Alligator with a toothache.”

“Mr. Frost!” a harried looking young woman rushed over with a file in her hand. “Mr. Frost, you need to go over these. Mr. Black is demanding them on his desk now.”

The man beside Hiccup snorted then grinned stupidly. “Frost? Jack Frost? As in Jack Frost nipping at noses?”

Rapunzel and Merida immediately looked like they were going to be ill and Hiccup actually scooted away from the man who had been non-stop talking in the lobby as Jack fixed him with a hard look. The other interns in the room shifted as the temperature seemed to drop and Jack’s eyes became icy.

“Have a nice day.” he stated in a clipped tone and Hiccup winced.

Rapunzel sighed heavily and looked at the intern who’d spoken. “Well now you’ve met Jack, he’s one of our senior agents and a department head. Hope he’s not yours. You might want to be careful now.”

The other interns shared worried glances and most tried to avoid the man now that he’d pissed off someone higher up. They continued with the tour, being shown the sixth floor and then being informed that the seventh floor was where Mr. Black’s office was with two other company heads. They returned to the third floor where three people stood waiting; Jack Frost, Pitch Black, and a cheerful looking woman who introduced herself as Eilonwy. And then the interns each went with their department heads, Hiccup briefly felt bad for the one who couldn’t shut up…his department head was Jack. Ouch!

 

xXx

 

Hiccup sighed heavily as he sank down into a chair at one of the tables in the breakroom where Merida was sitting. Rapunzel was in front of the microwave, humming some random Christmas song, and Hiccup eyed the bizarre amount of decorations braided into her hair. She looked like a walking Christmas tree or something.

Merida glanced over at Rapunzel and nodded slightly. “Yea, I know.”

“How do you handle all that stuff Punzie?” Hiccup asked with a grin as he dug through his bag for his lunch stuff.

The blonde laughed and shook her head, the small bells jingling slightly. “I love Christmas!”

“It’s just tha beginnin’ o’ December.” Merida pointed out, her voice flat.

Rapunzel made a face and then squealed when the microwave chimed to let her know her food was done. She soon joined the other two and they chatted about various things in their lives and around the office. Hiccup had fit himself into a comfortable routine over the two month period he’d been working for Moon and Star. Suddenly M.K. raced into the room, practically throwing herself down into the seat next to Hiccup, bumping him slightly in the process.

“What’s up?” Rapunzel asked with a raised eyebrow.

The redhead peered over her shoulder for a moment before turning back around, green eyes glowing in mirth. “You remember that one guy? The really chatty intern who completely dug his grave with Jack on day one?”

The other around the table nodded slowly, different looks of understanding and recognition lighting their faces. The three shared a look before turning back to M.K. all eager for whatever gossip she was going to dish out. Mary Katherine, or M.K. as she was better known, was a receptionist for one of the higher ups, though Hiccup could never remember who exactly she worked for up there…and as such she seemed to know everything about everything.

“Wut about him?” Merida prompted after a few minutes of insane silence.

M.K. blinked for a moment then laughed. “Right! Well, he’s no longer going to be working here.”

Hiccup choked on his soda. “Wait, did Jack fire him? Because of that?”

“Of course not.” M.K. stated immediately, looking rather confused how he got to that conclusion. “No, he was recorded saying some rather nasty things about Mr. Black’s husband. Well, Mr. Black overheard him and decided that enough was enough. Now legally he couldn’t fire him for his comments but apparently, and I haven’t figured out if this is true or not, but several females reported him for sexual harassment and he’s been given two prior warnings.”

“Damn.” Merida muttered, pausing in her apple to stare in surprise. “I remember readin’ some o’ tha reports when security was called.”

Rapunzel nodded. “Yeah I had one of my girls come talk to me about it. She said she was scared when he cornered her a while back and tried to harass her into going to dinner or something.” The blonde looked irritated. “At least no real harm came out of it, like he didn’t hurt anyone…well he said hurtful things and…you know what I mean!”

The others at the table nodded and slowly they headed off back to their respective jobs when they finished their individual lunch breaks. Hiccup sighed as he sank down into his seat and stared at the computer screen for a moment. He was in the middle of working on a huge project that he was planning on presenting to Pitch but couldn’t seem to get his focus back on the variables he needed to cover. He leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes only to jump when his name was suddenly called.

“Haddock!”

Hastily Hiccup stood up and scurried over to Pitch’s office. “Yes?”

The dark haired man held out two manila folders. “Take these upstairs to Frost.”

“Sir?” Hiccup took the folders and frowned. He wasn’t a delivery boy…there was an actual person who was hired to run things between floors.

Pitch looked up from what he was writing and fixed Hiccup with a bored stare. “Did I stutter? Go take those to Frost up on the fifth floor.”

“I’m not…” Hiccup began and then sighed.

“Haddock I don’t have time to wait on the lazy delivery boy. Now go.” Pitch snapped before turning back to what he was doing.

Hiccup scowled slightly and left the room, stomping rather childishly toward the elevator and then sighed as he hit the UP button. Damn this was annoying. Still, it gave him a chance to move around a bit and hopefully get himself refocused on what he was doing. He stepped onto the fifth floor when the elevator doors opened and wove his way back to the office where Jack was sitting. Hiccup paused idly in the doorway and waited to be acknowledged by the white haired man, who was currently on the phone with someone and throwing a baseball up into the air and catching it only to repeat.

Hiccup knocked on the doorframe and offered a small wave when Jack glanced at him. The blue eyed man smiled brilliantly and motioned for him to come in and then pointed toward one of the chairs across from his desk. The taller of the two tried to protest but ended up sighing in defeat and stepped into the chilly office then sat down almost hesitantly. The conversation continued for a few minutes and eventually ended with Jack joyfully saying that he’d meet with whomever the following week to finalize the papers. After a moment he pressed the headset and took it off his ear then set down the baseball.

“Sorry about that.” Jack began, that lazy grin in place.

Hiccup shook his head. “It’s no big deal. I’m just here to drop these off.”

Jack took the offered folders and then grinned slightly. “Ah, Pitch.” Blue eyes darted up to look at him through white bangs and Hiccup froze in his seat. “You must be a good worker then.”

“I’m sorry?” Hiccup prompted only to frown when Jack laughed.

“Pitch trusted you with unsealed information.” Jack said by way of explanation, motioning with a nod of his head toward the files in hand. “He never sends out stuff in just folders, it’s always tied and sealed. A real pain in the ass if you ask me.”

“Ah…” Hiccup didn’t know how to respond to that, though he did feel a small surge of pride. His department head liked him! Well, if Jack was to be believed.

“You’re Hiccup aren’t you?” Jack asked suddenly causing the other male to look at him again.

Hiccup nodded. “Yeah, Hiccup Haddock.”

“Right.” Jack sounded amused almost. “You’re Merida’s cousin. I remember her talking about you.”

The tips of Hiccup’s ears went pink. It was never a good sign when Merida talked about him. “Whatever she said, I’m sure it’s not true.”

Jack laughed outright. “So you’re not a hard worker? I should warn Pitch then, to move your cubicle close to his office.”

Hiccup’s face was burning as he stuttered and stumbled over a way to defend himself. By the gods he probably sounded like an idiot! Luckily he was saved from saying anything else when M.K. poked her head into the office.

“Jack, is your uncle coming again this year?” she prompted, glancing at the clipboard in hand.

Jack sighed a nodded before making a motion with his hand. “Yeah, he’s already agreed to be Santa for the charity.”

M.K. nodded and then glanced at Hiccup and smiled before turning back to Jack. “Right, okay then. And don’t forget you’re on the party committee again with Rapunzel, Guy, and Tadashi.”

“I’m not doing it.” Jack stated, his voice suddenly hard.

Hiccup looked startled and wondered if he should leave the room, and probably would have if M.K. wasn’t blocking the door. He glanced between the two for a moment as the receptionist stared Jack down. Clearly she wasn’t afraid of him.

“No arguments Jack. Everyone loves your Christmas parties.” M.K. informed him with a small tilt of the head.

Jack scowled. “I don’t do Christmas.”

“I’m just—“ Hiccup tried to excuse himself.

M.K. scoffed. “Come on Jack, don’t be like this. You’ve always done the best parties.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not doing it.”

Hiccup tried again. “I’ll head—“

The argument continued for several minutes before Hiccup managed to sneak out of the office, Jack’s and M.K.’s attention focused securely on each other as they hissed and fussed over some weird party thing. Hiccup hurried to the elevator and came to a stop as Merida came around the corner.

“Merida, I need to ask you something.” Hiccup stated, catching his cousin by the arm and pulling her into the elevator with him.

“Oh-okay!” the redhead barely had time to squeak as she was grabbed.

 

xXx

 

“Hey Jack, can you please just come dow—you’re not Jack.” Hiccup stared at the girl sitting in Jack’s office chair.

A brilliant smile graced her face and she giggled, shaking her head. “Nope.”

Hiccup blinked several times and looked at the name on the office door before looking at the girl again. “Um, where is Jack?”

“Hey Emma, I got you your hot chocolate. Oh hey Hiccup, what do you need?” Jack came into the room and grinned before handing over the steaming cup of chocolaty goodness.

“Uh…I need you.” Hiccup blurted out before inhaling sharply as Emma laughs. “I mean! Shit. Wait…I can’t say that. Sorry. Uh what I meant was I need you to go talk to Pitch. He’s been calling and now sent me to come uh, collect you.”

Jack stood there for a moment with an amused grin on his face the entire time Hiccup spoke and then nodded slightly. “All right, Emma stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“Can’t I go see Pitch too?” she asked with a whine.

“I’ll let him know you’re here. If he’s got time he’ll come up and say hi.” Jack stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. “The tablet is in the bottom drawer where you left it. Plug it in and play your game. Or go hang out in the daycare center and do homework.”

“I’ll stay.” the girl stated immediately as she ducked down to get the tablet.

“Come on Hiccup, let’s go see what Pitch wants.”

Hiccup sighed heavily. “Finally.”

Jack glanced over at him as they headed toward the elevator. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing bad, I just…I’m in the middle of something and Pitch is constantly pulling me away to bring stuff to you or come get you. It’s sort of frustrating. He treats me like a PA not a programmer.” Hiccup muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah that’s Pitch for ya.” Jack said with a laugh as they stepped onto the elevator and Jack hit the 4. “He kinda doesn’t care about anything but what he needs done.”

Hiccup nodded slightly and stood near Jack on the very short trip down. They stepped off onto the fourth floor and headed over toward Pitch’s office. Hiccup bid Jack a farewell and returned to his desk to continue working. Really this was getting annoying. Hiccup was engrossed in his typing, losing himself in the work. He nearly leapt out of his skin when Jack suddenly appeared, leaning partially over the half-wall.

“Sorry.” Jack said with a grin.

Hiccup shook his head and turned slightly to look at Jack. “No it’s fine. Did you, did you need something?”

Jack’s grin widened and he tilted his head slightly. “Let me take you out to lunch, to apologize for Pitch constantly dragging you away from work to bring me stuff and all that.”

Hiccup stared at him for a long moment then offered a small smile. “Uh, yeah sure. Lunch sounds good…”

“See you in an hour then.” Jack stated before winking playfully and disappearing toward the elevators.


	2. Some Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this second part has taken so long to get thrown together. Christmas is, sorta difficult right now. So it’ll be a bit slow…again sorry.

Lunch with Jack was becoming almost routine now, and it had only been three days. Hiccup leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. He needed a break…but it was too early for lunch. With a hum the lanky tall man stood up and made a small sound of relief as his back popped in several places. It hurt so good! He glanced around briefly, noting the different expressions of his coworkers as they seemed to be in various stages of their projects. He grimaced slightly and decided a break outside would be in order. Just a quiet pause for a moment of fresh-ish air.

The elevator doors opened in their usual fashion and Hiccup joined Guy, Rapunzel, and a tall broad-shouldered man who Hiccup had recently learned was Wasabi, all of them holding what looked like heavy file boxes. Being the gentleman he was, Hiccup offered to hold the box for Rapunzel but she merely smiled and insisted she had it. The conversation was pleasant, apparently Wasabi was on loan for a little bit from the main office across the ‘pond’. All conversation stopped however when they stepped off the elevator into the lobby and came across a sight that made Rapunzel gasp and drop her box onto Guy’s foot, ignoring his sudden yelp of pain.

Hiccup’s eyes widened as he stared at the equally surprised blonde woman. “Astrid.”

“Hiccup?” she shifted almost nervously. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here.” he stated casually. “What about yourself?”

She nodded absently. “I uh, well I was in the neighborhood for the holidays, I came to get Eret, for lunch.”

“Eret?” Hiccup repeated curiously. He knew that Astrid was often busy with her job though he couldn’t recall exactly what it was she did anymore. Still he figured he best be polite.

Astrid offered a small weak smile. “My fiancé.”

“Ah, well congrats I guess. You look like you’re doing well.” Hiccup offered with a lame shrug, fully aware of the audience they had watching them. He hadn’t been expecting that bomb to be dropped, absently he found himself wondering if…

“You do too.” Astrid responded, her smile turning more genuine. “How…how’s…”

She trailed off and he didn’t blame her. He personally had no ill-will toward the blonde, he’d only dated her for a year or so in high school when they felt it was what had become expected of them. They’d parted on friendly terms however, things hadn’t stayed friendly after…

“Wut are ya doin’ here?” Merida asked curtly, her voice hard as steel.

Wasabi made a surprised sound at Merida’s cold abruptness, the box in his hand falling onto Guy’s uninjured foot and the man made more weird painful noises as he tried not to drop the heavy box in his own hands.

Astrid turned and stared at the redhead with wide eyes. “Merida! You’re here?”

“Aye,” she stated. “I wurk here.”

All further conversation was halted by the appearance of Eret, who wasn’t a face Hiccup was familiar with. The man spoke briefly with the receptionist, asking her to pass on a message to Mr. Black once he got in and then greeted Astrid with a kiss. Hiccup could sense the building volcano in Merida but, thankfully and surprisingly maturely, the head of security merely turned and continued on her previous path, retreating back to her own office. An awkward round of introductions were made and while Eret seemed a nice fellow, Hiccup had to dislike him out of principle.

“And the woman who left?” Eret asked suddenly.

Astrid looked panicked before offering a small smile. “Just an, old friend.”

Rapunzel’s mouth dropped open and she was about to say something, probably nasty from the look on her face, but Eret bid them all a good day and the couple left. Astrid glanced back over her shoulder once before they disappeared out of the building. Absently Hiccup didn’t feel the need for air anymore.

“What was that about?” Wasabi asked, having finally come out of his surprise.

“That, was Astrid Hofferson.” Hiccup explained as he looked at the three behind him. “My ex-girlfriend in high school who then went on to date Merida for…a long time.”

Guy stared with wide-eyes, forgetting briefly about the boxes that were cutting off his circulation. “I take it, it didn’t end well.”

“You could say that.” Rapunzel stated with a rude snort of irritation. The green-eyed girl sighed heavily but stooped down and picked up her box from Guy’s foot, Wasabi doing the same. “Well come on guys, we gotta drop these off to security anyway.”

Hiccup parted ways with the trio and retreated back to his office. He knew there would be beer and probably a boxing match with Merida later. When he finally reached his desk he stopped and stared for a moment then blinked.

“Funny, I didn’t expect to find a girl in my chair when I came back.” Hiccup commented as he leaned lightly against the flimsy cubicle wall.

Emma grinned up at him in a cute manner. “Hey Hiccy!”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you want Emma?”

“What makes you think I want something?” she asked immediately only to pout when one brow rose questioningly. “Okay, fine…I want to go to lunch with you and Jack today.”

“Do you now?” Hiccup asked, glancing at his watch curiously. It seemed that more time had passed with the conversations downstairs than he’s originally anticipated. It was only an hour before his usual lunch time. “What makes you think that Jack and I are going to lunch today?”

She laughed. “Because that’s all he talks about.”

That threw the brunet through a loop, Hiccup stared at the girl for a moment in surprise. He, hadn’t been expecting that at all. The man continued to stare for a long moment then glanced down at Emma with a raised brow.

“So, what do you want me to do?” he asked confused.

Emma gave him an irritated look. “Pay attention Hiccy. I want to go to lunch with you and my Jack…normally I go eat lunch with Mer-bear or Punzie but – “

“No.” Hiccup said suddenly. “You don’t want to be around Merida right now. She’s…being a bit of a bear at the moment.”

“Does that mean I get to go?” Emma asked with a cute smile.

Hiccup sighed and made a small sound. “I’ll ask your brother…see if I can convince him to let you come along. We’ve got an hour or something.” He glanced down at Emma and couldn’t help but smile at the look she was giving him. “Come on, let’s go talk to your brother.”

“Awesome!” Emma took off running and yelled something at Pitch before hurrying over to the elevators to wait impatiently for Hiccup. “Come on slow person!”

“I’m commin’, I’m commin.”

 

xXx

 

“I can’t believe she coerced you into convincing me to let her come.” Jack teased good-naturedly as they sat at their usual booth at _Fries with Strangers_.

Hiccup glanced over at Emma as she ran around the play area with the other children. “To be honest, I didn’t want to subject her to Merida’s temper right now.”

“What happened?” Jack prompted immediately as he munched on the basket of fries in between them. “Mer-bear’s usually pretty chill.”

“Astrid showed up.” Hiccup muttered before looking up at the waitress and smiling. “Hey Sabrina.”

The young woman smiled and nodded. “Hey Hiccup, Jack.” She glanced around the building before her grin widened. “Emma’s here too I see. Will she want her usual then?”

“You know her.” Jack nodded. “She’ll hate me forever if I don’t get it for her.”

“Right then, you guys want your usuals?” she asked.

Hiccup seemed surprised. “We have usuals?” He shared a flabbergasted look with Jack. “Do we really come here that often? This has only been...a few times.”

Jack shrugged then looked up at Sabrina. “Well, we know her by name and she knows us…I come here all the time with M&M but you…dunno about that one.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes affectionately and left the two to debate the issue about them having a ‘usual’ order at the place. The boys were mental and she hoped that soon they’d tell her they were dating, she had 10 bucks on the line that they’d be together by Christmas. The two coworkers chatted for a bit before Jack called Emma back at the burgers arrived, Emma getting a veggie burger, making a face at her brother and Hiccup.

“You’re weird.” she complained childishly.

Hiccup laughed. “Why? Because we eat meat?”

“You eat something with a face!” she declared, wrinkling her nose in disgust before entertaining herself with her food.

Jack rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Hiccup while dipping his fries into some ketchup. “So how is your project going?”

“Mm,” Hiccup made a small noise, nodding his head as he took a bite of his burger. He wiped his mouth with his napkin before smiling and taking a drink of his soda. “Yeah, it’s coming along nicely. I’m almost done actually. I think it’ll be great, just hope Pitch likes it.”

“If it’s as good as you claim it is, then it should be fine.” Jack encouraged with a grin of his own.

The companionable silence that followed as the three continued with their lunch was comfortable until Jack reached into his pocket and made a face as he glanced at the screen of his phone when he pulled it out. Emma and Hiccup watched him curiously as Jack wiped his fingers on his napkin then punched something back before tucking the device back into his jean pocket.

“Something bad?” Emma asked quietly.

Jack shook his head while making a small noise of disagreement. “Not really, just Tadashi bugging me about the stupid Christmas party.”

“Christmas isn’t stupid Jack.” Emma scolded with a dark look. “It’s a magic time.”

“That reminds me, what did M.K. mean the other day when she asked if your Uncle was coming? You said something about a charity?” Hiccup questioned as he snagged some fries from the basket in the middle of the table.

Jack sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he sat back in his seat. “My Uncle, North, always dresses up as Santa Claus for our Christmas parties at the company and for a bunch of things around town as well. He lives up in Alaska and comes down only around this time to visit M&M and me.”

“Me and M&M.” Emma corrected absently as she squished the large burger down to make it more manageable.

Jack shrugged. “Whatever.”

Hiccup couldn’t help but smile at the siblings’ interaction. He’d been informed by Rapunzel and Merida the truth about the strange chocolate haired girl that had magically appeared in Jack’s office, the day after the first shared lunch. He thought it was sweet that Jack had dropped everything in his life to take over raising his sister when their parents died shortly after he graduated. The green-eyed man glanced at his watch and then waved for Sabrina to bring them the check.

“That time already?” Jack asked with a sigh.

Hiccup nodded. “Afraid so.”

The meal was paid for, Hiccup’s turn this time, and Emma’s leftovers was boxed up, then they were out the door and heading back to the office. Emma had only just stepped onto the elevator and disappeared behind the metals doors when Jack and Hiccup were stopped by Tadashi.

“I was looking for you Jack.” the Asian stated, crossing his arms over his chest casually.

Jack sighed. “And I’ve been avoiding you. So we’re even. I’m going back to work.”

Tadashi laughed and shook his head. “No you aren’t. You’re going to help me, Rapunzel and Guy with this party. It’s only two weeks away Jack, you can’t keep avoiding it.” The taller man fixed Jack with a stern look. “It won’t kill you to help out. You didn’t mind doing it before.”

“It was different then!” Jack snarled angrily before storming toward the stairs.

Tadashi sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “What the hell am I going to do about him?”

Hiccup shifted awkwardly, aware that Tadashi had been talking to himself but still he had to resist the urge to comment. “I’ll go talk to him?”

“No, that won’t do anything but irritate him more.” Tadashi said as he took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair before tugging the cap back into place. “This is not going to be easy.”

The green-eyed man watched Tadashi walk away before turning his gaze over to the door that had led to the stairs. He hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. He’d give Jack some time to cool off before going to talk to him. Soon Hiccup found himself sitting at his desk but unable to focus. He tapped his fingers lightly over the keys on his keyboard but didn’t press hard enough to make an actual character appear, he just like the soft noise the clunky thing made…gods these keyboards were so outdated.

Hiccup leaned back in his chair and glanced around the floor at the various Christmas decorations that littered the office, except over at Ned’s desk, where he had decorated with his own decorations for Hanukkah. It made Hiccup smile. Finally he realized he wasn’t getting and work done and got up, dropping off some papers with a coworker then disappeared back into the elevator he’d vacated only twenty minutes ago. He rode down the few floors to the lobby and headed across the glitzy entrance to the security office. The tall young man greeted a few of the men in the room as he passed through to Merida’s office, poking his head in and nearly getting a dart in the nose.

“Good to see you’re handling earlier well.” he muttered, glancing over at the dartboard that was riddled with darts.

Merida scowled. “I don’ gotta be mature. Wut do’ya want?”

Hiccup looked properly offended. “I can’t just come visit my favorite cousin?”

“Not sayin’ much.” Merida muttered as both thought about their other cousin who wasn’t a favorite guest…ever. “And no ya can’ jus’ come an’ see meh. Yer wantin’ somethin’ nao wut is it?”

Hiccup shut the office door and sat down in the seat across from the unruly redhead, pondering for a moment on how to ask the question. Merida watched him curiously and then made a motion toward the corner where a bonsai plant sat. He gave the woman a smile and stood up to begin the calming pruning of the old little plant.

“You know pretty much everything that goes on around here right?”

“Aye, an’ if I don’ then Punzie does.”

Hiccup nodded, he’d thought as much. He set the small snips down and turned to look at his cousin. “I want to know why Jack hates Christmas when according to everyone in the office he used to love it until just recently.”

“Ah,” Merida leaned back in her chair but her expression betrayed little. She made a thoughtful noise in her throat. “An’ yer expectin me tae jus’ tell ya then?”

“No, I know you wouldn’t tell me a dam thing about Jack if it’s something personal. I just don’t know how to bring it up to him.” Hiccup muttered as he moved around the office, looking over things on the wall. “Like, it’s pretty obvious that it’s sensitive or something. Just, not sure how to broach the topic without getting frozen to a chair or something. I swear, the room drops twenty degrees when someone mentions it or relates his name to that song.”

Merida nodded, more for Hiccup’s benefit than any other reason honestly. She watched her cousin with curious eyes and smiled softly. She hadn’t seen Hiccup this interested in another human being for a long time, it was…refreshing.

“You aren’t helping.” Hiccup muttered with a playfully disapproving stare at his cousin.

The redhead shrugged a bit. “I don’ know wut ya want me tae do. I can’t tell ya anything anyway. It’s fer Jack tae decide if he want tae tell ya anythin’ about why he’s so off-tha-wall.”

“But there is a reason right? You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you hate Christmas.” Hiccup pointed out with a small wave of his hand. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Oi, befar ya start ya big-brain rant, jus’ remember that we’re human. So don’ get crazy ideas.” Merida stated as she picked up a dart and threw it again, grinning when it landed smack in the center. “Yer getting’ too warked up about it. Let it go Hiccup.”

Hiccup sighed and put his hands on his hips causally. “I wish I could. I just feel like there is something that that needs to figured out.”

Merida snorted. “Ye can’ keep outta trouble fer yer own good. It’ll get ya in trouble, mark me. Fate’ll be comin’ fer ya soon.”

“Oh come on, what’s the worst that could happen?” Hiccup asked with a grin.


	3. Opening Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Toothless is a dog in this one and I made him an oversized Great Dane. Don't judge me.

Pitch Black was many things, but he was never late to work so when the man’s office was dark, Hiccup stood staring at it in mild confusion. He glanced around before turning his attention over to Nod as the brunet passed him.

“Where’s Pitch?” he asked.

Nod stopped for a moment and looked thoughtful before snapping his fingers. “Upstairs. All the heads are in a meeting with Mr. Black’s godson or something. He comes when Mr. Black is overseas in the main building I think.”

Hiccup nodded slightly in understanding then headed over to his desk to let out a groan of frustration. Sitting on his keyboard was an inter-office envelope with a sticky note that had To Frost’s Office on it in Pitch’s surprisingly elegant hand writing. Somewhere behind him someone laughed at their station. Clearly everyone knew that he was unofficial delivery boy. Hiccup snatched the envelope from where it sat innocently on his desk and contemplated putting it back on Pitch’s desk then sighed and stomped over to the elevator and punched the UP button.

He vaguely remembering greeting Honey-Lemon as she waved before looking back at her phone. The ride up was in silence and Hiccup got off when the elevator came to a stop then began to cross the office floor only to stop mid-step when he realized that Jack wasn’t alone. There was a tall broad shouldered man in the office, sitting on one of the visitor chairs talking with Jack. Jack himself was perched on the edge of the desk, laughing with the man. There was a sudden and irrational surge of jealousy at the closeness the two were sharing.

“Uncle Bunny is kinda weird.” a voice from his side said suddenly causing Hiccup to jerk to the side in surprise.

“What the…” He looked down and blinked rather ignorantly at the child and her unknown male companion. “Emma and…Emma’s friend…”

“This is Hiro, he’s Tadashi’s brother.” Emma explained as she continued to stare at her brother’s office. “That’s Uncle Bunny in there with Jack. He’s waiting until Pitch gets out of the meeting with the big boss.” She giggled and Hiro snickered. “That’s the only reason he’s really here. Jack’s his agent but…he comes to see Pitch.”

Hiccup nodded absently and continued to look down at the two children beside him before turning his attention back to Jack’s office when a loud voice came from it and the door opened. The man who had been named Uncle Bunny stepped out of the office with Jack following him, the two laughing and joking about something. Bunny was a large man with tanned skin and blue-grey hair and Hiccup couldn’t help but feel dwarfed by the man even though he was across the building.

Suddenly there were eyes on him and Jack waved toward Hiccup and the kids. “Hey Hic!”

Hiccup waved back lamely. “Hey Jack, got another delivery for you.”

“Damn, Pitch won’t leave you alone with that crap will he?” Jack asked with a loud laugh as the man next to him shook his head.

Hiccup closed the space between them and handed over the envelope to Jack then glanced up at his companion, the man standing several inches above Hiccup himself. Damn this guy was huge.

“The name’s Aster.” he said, the heavy Australian accent startling Hiccup slightly.

Hiccup shook the offered hand. “Uh Hiccup, Hiccup Haddock.”

“Nice ta meet ya.” Aster said before setting a heavy hand on Hiccup’s shoulder then making his way over to the elevators.

Hiccup watched him go and then his attention was diverted toward Emma and Hiro, watching them run after Aster laughing about something. Rapunzel smiled at them as she paused to let them pass, the two children running around like they owned the place. Jack calling his name drew the green-eyed man’s gaze back to the other male.

“So, Aster?” Hiccup prompted as he followed Jack into the man’s office.

Jack nodded almost absently. “Yeah, he’s an old friend of the family and later became a client. He doesn’t deal with anyone else, just drives me crazy. But he’s stubborn as hell so I wouldn’t wish him on anyone else anyway.”

“Emma called him Uncle Bunny.” Hiccup pointed out as he stood watching Jack sign off on the papers that Pitch had apparently left him in charge of.

“She did?” Jack asked surprised before busting out into a laughter that made him have to sit down. After several moments he calmed down and wiped at his eyes. “Oh he’s going to kill her when he finds out that. His last name is Bunnymund so she likes to relate him to a rabbit.”

Hiccup mumbled something as he rolled Jack’s baseball around on the table. He was handed the envelope again and glanced over his shoulder when Jack suddenly tensed up. Through the massive windows he could see Tadashi coming toward them, a determined look on his face. Hiccup barely escaped the office, not wanting to get caught up in that mess. He had a feeling it wouldn’t end well for someone.

 

xXx

 

His pace was smooth, his breathing steady, and a familiar metal sound beside him as the dog’s tags jingled together made up his world. Hiccup ran the weaving path through the park, his breath coming out in white puffs in front of him. Heat radiated from the large body beside him and Hiccup glanced over at the over-sized Dane that easily kept up with him.

“Come on Toothless, one more lap.” Hiccup urged as he pulled the hood of his hoodie up over the dark green beanie he wore.

Toothless barked loudly and the sound echoed through the mostly empty park. Early morning mist circled through the grounds giving it an eerie appearance and the clouds were thick in the sky, threatening snow. The chill was nippy and Hiccup’s cheeks and nose were bright red and numb by this time but the jog was exhilarating and he wanted to test the new leg more, push it further. They slowed briefly and got a drink of water from the pack that was saddled on Toothless’ back before Hiccup shook the excess water from the collapsible bowl and they took off again, starting an easy jog to make sure they didn’t get sick from the cold water.

The tame pace didn’t last long and soon the two were racing away, training for their own personal records. They’d lapped the park again and were coming to a stop near the huge playground when a familiar voice suddenly called out to him.

“Look out!”

Hiccup looked up in time to see Toothless up in the air, catching a…Frisbee? Green eyes blinked several times as two people came running over toward them, both bundled up tightly to protect from the December air, as Toothless stood proudly with his new prize in his mouth.

“Hiccy!”

“Emma?” Hiccup blinked again rather cluelessly before focusing on the white clad girl.

Indeed with was Emma in a white black and white puffy jacket with a black beanie pulled down over her ears. His eyes darted up to look at Jack who came up behind her with a laugh and a shake of his head.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Jack mused as he rubbed his hands together.

What was that idiot doing out without gloves on?

Hiccup nodded absently, still surprised to see the two at the park. “Small world. It’s not like Burgess is that big.”

“She didn’t hit you did she?” Jack asked suddenly.

“What?” What was he talking about? “Emma didn’t hit me?”

Jack laughed loudly. “Man, are you out of it this morning? The dangerous flying Frisbee. Did Emma hit you with it? Kid’s got a ridiculous arm. She must have been a guy in her past life.” He started to laugh when his sister protested loudly and then started hitting him.

Hiccup couldn’t help but laugh and reached out absently to set his hand on Toothless’ head when the large dog sat down and leaned heavily against his human, as his breed was famously known for. “Nah, I’m good. Toothless caught it before it hit me.”

Emma suddenly stopped and stared, her eyes wide in amazement. “What is that?”

“Toothless, my dog.” Hiccup said perplexed as he stroked the dog’s head.

“That’s not a dog!” she declared, pointing accusingly at the massive canine. “That’s a steed! I could ride him into battle…can I hug him?”

Hiccup laughed loudly and nodded only to laugh harder when Emma suddenly squealed and practically lunged for the dog. Toothless was patient and gentle as Emma threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

“He’d probably like to play Emma, you should try to get the Frisbee from him.” Hiccup suggested.

She looked at Hiccup then to Jack who nodded with a shrug before reaching for the Frisbee only to let out a startled cry when Toothless jerked his head back, refusing to hand over his new toy. Jack and Hiccup watched as Emma attempted to reach for the Frisbee again and this time Toothless took off running, stopping a few feet away, wagging his long tail.

“Give it back!” Emma yelled as she ran after the dog.

The two men stood together in silence, watching the girl run around and chase after Toothless trying in vain to get her Frisbee back from the massive dog. Still Hiccup couldn’t help but feel a bit tense. He was waiting for the question that always came, he could hide the leg at work but when he was out jogging it was too hard to hide. His eyes darted over to Jack expecting him to be staring or looking frequently but instead those arctic blue eyes were focused on his sister.

But the question never came, not once and Hiccup felt himself relaxing more and more as time passed. Soon however the moment of content was changed by Jack suddenly calling for his sister.

“Come on Emma! You’ll get too cold! Let’s go get some cocoa!” he yelled.

“Aww Jack!” she whined as she came back over, Toothless following along behind her. “Can’t we stay and play some more?”

He shook his head, an unusually serious expression on his face. “Nope, you’re already pink in the face. Come on, we need to go inside for a bit now.”

The girl looked thoughtful before laughing when Toothless nudged her with his big head. “Can Toothless and Hiccy come?”

Hiccup was about to protest when Jack shrugged slightly. “If they want to come then they can.”

“Oh,” Hiccup began lamely. “I don’t think they want a big ol’ oaf in the building. And I can’t leave him outside by himself in this weather. He’ll get too cold too.”

“But Cass would let him in! Right Jack?” Emma turned wide pleading eyes toward her brother.

Jack looked thoughtful and then sighed. “Hard to say…but I didn’t think we were going to go to Lucky Cat…”

“She has the best cocoa.” Emma stated, her expression serious and stubborn. “I want Cass’ peppermint cocoa! Just because you want to avoid Dashi doesn’t mean I want to. Her café is the best and so is her cocoa. And she’s all decorated for Christmas!” The girl stomped her foot for emphasis.

Jack’s expression became one of pinched irritation; he was torn between agreeing with his sister and demanding that she stop being a brat. He sighed heavily, rubbing absently at his chest as though finding it difficult to breathe before sighing again.

Finally Hiccup spoke up, hoping to get the tension out of the air. “How about this, I’ll go with you guys to the café? I have to head that way anyway, I live past it. Then we’ll pop in and see if the owner minds Toothless coming in out of the cold. If she doesn’t want him in there then I’ll keep on going. You can even ride Toothless to the café.”

Emma’s expression brightened immediately. “Really?”

“Sure you can.” Hiccup agreed with a nod, green eyes darting over to Jack.

The white haired man sighed again and then nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s just get going. I don’t want you out here much longer Emma.”

She gave him a look. “I’m fine big brother.”

“Don’t care. You’re going inside for a bit. Maybe we can get some brunch, Cass does make an awesome cherry Danish. And you can get her chocolate éclair if you behave while we head that way.” Jack stated, clearly tired of fighting with his sister.

After a few minutes Emma was up on Toothless’ back, her arms wrapped around his neck as he strolled along beside them. Jack glanced frequently at his sister but luckily they arrived at the café with no trouble and surprisingly enough Cass was overly excited to let Toothless into the building as long as he stayed near the table they sat at and didn’t bother the other customers. Toothless laid down patiently on the floor beside the table, they’d picked one furthest from the door and off to the side where few people were sitting.

Tadashi lit a fire in the large fireplace and stopped to greet his coworkers, take orders, and then disappeared back over to his aunt. Jack let out a tense sigh and then amused himself with throwing sugar packets at his sister. She fussed and threw them back at him. Cocoa and coffee, Hiccup wasn’t in the mood for something super sweet, was delivered and the three busied themselves with their drinks, enjoying the warmth spreading through their bones. Even Toothless got a treat in the form of a large organic muffin that didn’t contain anything harmful to dogs.

The conversation was easy and rather harmless and Emma was more than willing to fill the air with chatter as she went on and on about anything and everything. Soon however she was called away by Cass to play taste-tester since apparently Hiro wasn’t there to do the job. Jack had been hesitant but the look Cass gave him made him nod and he settled back down in his seat. Silence stretched between the two men.

“You always go jogging?” Jack prompted.

Hiccup nodded. “Every Saturday morning unless I’m working. It’s good for me and for Toothless and helps him burn off extra energy.”

Jack glanced at the dog who was laying contently at his human’s feet. “He’s huge.”

“Yeah, he is. Too big for judging standards especially but that’s okay. He was a runt of a purebred litter but I wanted him…he saved my life actually.” Hiccup trailed off slightly.

Jack glanced over and offered a small smile and then shrugged. “You don’t have to bring it up. It’s cool, some things are just too painful to think about.”

Hiccup shook his head slightly. “No I’ve come to terms with it, I’m just usually not the person to actually bring up the injury in the conversation. When people find out they usually ask what happened…kinda the first thing that comes to mind I guess.”

“I get what you mean.” Jack said with a small casual smile and then he nodded slightly.

“I was fifteen when it happened. I was in an accident, don’t remember much of the details to be honest. I just know that Toothless found me and led the emergency crew to me.” Hiccup said after a long drink of his coffee. “They said that the stairs collapsed when I tried to escape the fire. The memories are still hazy.”

Jack didn’t say anything for a while, leaning against Hiccup in a companionable manner before he let out a sigh. “When I was younger, my sister and I used to go ice skating on the lake here at the edge of town. It was early in the winter and I should have known better to go so early. I’d told Emma to wait another week but she cried and begged and I gave in and took her. We’d only been on the ice for a little bit when we got too close to thin ice.” Hiccup glanced over at Jack who was staring at the melting whip cream on his cocoa. “It started to crack under Emma so I grabbed a long branch that had broken and used it to pull her to where I was but I ended up sort of throwing myself forward in my haste…I barely remember the ice giving away and Emma yelling my name. I was told that I probably would have died if not for Uncle North who was coming by for a surprise visit.”

Hiccup didn’t say anything, really…what was there to say? He simply leaned a little more against Jack to offer him the same stability he’d offered moments before. Was that why Jack hated Christmas? No, Hiccup decided with a small frown. According to the office Jack loved Christmas up until a year or so ago…and from the way this sounded, this happened much earlier. They stayed silent and simply enjoyed the peaceful setting of the café and the crackling of the fire and the warm drinks in their hands as they watched Emma laughing with Cass.

“Hey Jack…” Hiccup began quietly and then sighed and shook his head when the white haired male glanced over at him and made a curious sound. “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

Jack gave him a look and then laughed a bit and shrugged. “Okay.”

They returned the wave that Emma gave them and then fell back into a still companionship. It was nice, just sitting there and enjoying each other’s company without unnecessary conversation. Finally Hiccup turned to look at Jack and those piercing blue eyes locked onto his face with a slender brow lifted curiously.

“Are,” Hiccup cleared his throat and stared down at the cup of coffee in his hand. He could feel his cheeks heating up as Jack continued to watch him curiously. “Are you busy tomorrow evening?”

Jack sat up from his previously slouched position and turned slightly in his chair to face Hiccup. “Am I free tomorrow evening?”

Hiccup nodded, not trusting himself to speak as Jack hummed slightly. He took his time seriously considering the question, it was written on his face and Hiccup felt a little hopeful considering he hadn’t been outright dismissed. He didn’t even know if Jack swung that way! Panic settled in again and he fidgeted as Jack grinned a bit.

“Nope, I don’t have any plans.” Jack finally said. “Why?”

“Ah,” Hiccup floundered slightly and distracted himself with Toothless when the dog sat up to look at the embarrassed man. “I was wondering if you…maybe wanted to do dinner or something. We can go somewhere o-or uh I can cook something…well I can…shit no I don’t cook well. We can go somewhere?”

Jack smiled, the grin steadily getting wider and wider as Hiccup spoke, mostly to himself at this point. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Hiccup’s mouth shut with an audible click and he nodded stiffly. Jack watched him with a mirthful but enigmatic light in his eyes. He seemed to be weighing things in his mind before finally nodding.

“Well, I’d rather not leave Emma alone and I don’t think I can get someone to watch her on such short notice. But, if you want to come over I can cook something. Then we can go out on a proper adult date later, when I can get Cass or something to keep an eye on scamp.” Jack said with a wink.

The white haired man’s smile was infectious and soon Hiccup was grinning just as widely. “Sounds like a plan.”

Jack winked again. “It’s a date.”


	4. Questions Answered

Merida’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as Hiccup came into the house later than normal. His ridiculous grin made a red brow quirk up and she paused the game she was playing to stare more at her cousin. Hiccup didn’t even seem to be fazed by his severely underdressed cousin sitting on his couch mooching off his Xbox Live account. She mumbled something into the headset and set it down beside her before getting up and following Hiccup into his bedroom, crossing her arms over the white tank top she wore.

“Wut are ye so happieh about?” she asked. “And weere were ya?”

Hiccup looked over at Merida and scoffed slightly. “Meri, I thought you were fine.”

She scowled at him. “I am fine!”

“You’re in practically nothing sitting on my couch, probably eating my ice cream, and using my Live account because you’re depressed and taking it out on campers.” Hiccup stated, his voice flat an unamused.

She puffed up her cheeks before looking away. “No one like tae have campers.”

Hiccup shook his head slightly. “You always do this whenever Astrid is mentioned or comes up…hell I’m surprised you’re as put together as you are considering you actually had to see her.”

The redhead said nothing for a long moment and simply stared down her cousin before making a small noise and tilting her head to the side. “You were with Jackie boy.”

“Uh…” Red exploded across Hiccup’s cheeks at the implication. “We just had dinner…well all of us. Me and him and his sister.” He gave her another pointed look. “It wasn’t like anything that you’re implying.”

“I didn’tn’t imply anythin’!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “Yer tha one takin’ it wrung! Ye wanted it tae be somethin’ moare didn’tn’t ya?”

Hiccup merely glared at Merida then hit her with the pillow that was laying across his bed. She squealed as she was hit then she grabbed one of his many pillows and hit him back. The small but very angry war continued for several long minutes before the cousins found themselves on their backs on Hiccup’s bed staring up at the ceiling at nothing in particular.

 

xXx

 

The joy that seemed to surround Hiccup didn’t last long. As he stepped into the office that Monday he had a feeling of anxiousness overcome him. Nothing seemed too terribly off so he couldn’t figure out what was making him so uneasy. In fact it wasn’t until he was told to deliver something to Jack again that he realized what it was, and he didn’t even come to the conclusion that it was something involving Jack until he stepped out onto the floor where the other man’s office was located. Jack was arguing with Emma…?

Hiccup stood a few feet from Jack’s office, staring at the large man that was standing near the door. Who was that guy?

“I can handle it Jack.” Emma said stubbornly.

Jack held onto his sister’s arms and prevented her from turning away from him. “No, you can’t. You can’t handle it Emma and I won’t let you get hurt.”

She glared up at her brother. “I’m not a little girl anymore!”

“You are! And you can’t handle this! Listen to me Emma! You will not do this. I’m forbidding it.” Jack snapped.

“You aren’t dad!” she screamed causing people to turn and look at the fight and Jack looked like he’d been slapped in the face. “So stop trying to be him!”

Emma broke from her brother’s considerably loosened grip and turned and fled toward the elevator, pushing past people without apologizing. Jack stood rooted to the spot, stunned and shaking. He took a step forward to go after the girl but the large white haired man stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll go. Patch things up.” the man said, gruffly before offering a kind smile. “Do not worry Jackie. We will fix this, it’s Christmas!”

Hiccup barely had time to move before the large red clad man bounded past him and fit himself into the small elevator, disappearing behind the metal doors. Green eyes turned back to Jack who looked so lost it actually caused a physical ache in Hiccup. He immediately crossed the expanse as Rapunzel suddenly seemed to materialize out of thin air and order everyone back to work. Hiccup gently but firmly guided Jack back into his office and then down into one of the chairs before going over and shutting the door. He sat on the edge of Jack’s desk, perching comfortably as he waited.

“Jack?” he asked softly. “Are you all right?”

Jack laughed almost bitterly, a hollow and scornful sound. Hiccup decided immediately he didn’t hearing from Jack and frowned slightly. He watched the other man for a long moment as Jack seemed to slowly pull himself from the shock or perhaps anger he was feeling.

“I’m not dad…” he mumbled.

Hiccup tilted his head to the side. “No, you’re her brother. And I’m sure you’re doing the best that you can to help her.”

Jack sighed and tilted his face up to stare at Hiccup, his eyes were glossy and lost. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to take care of her anymore. She can’t do things like the other kids and I can’t stop her anymore. She does…” He made a vague motion with his hand toward the door.

“What was that about?” Hiccup asked quietly.

“My Uncle, North, the big guy in red that you saw wanted to take her ice skating.” Jack said, sounding exhausted all of a sudden. “I don’t mind it, the ice is safe now and there are other kids. But it’s too cold for her to be outside. We don’t have her coat or anything here.” He trailed off with a sigh. “And she’s already got a cough forming, I didn’t want her to get any more sick. I told her to wait a few days when she was better and could handle it. She’s not like the other kids…”

Hiccup slid from the desk and crouched down in front of Jack, reaching out to grab chilly pale hands. “What can’t she handle?”

Jack made a small noise of unease. “The strain.”

There was a long heavy silence between the two and Hiccup tried to read the emotions on the other man’s face. What was he missing? After several moments he tilted his head to the side.

“Why do you hate Christmas Jack?” Hiccup pushed.

Jack stared at him for a long moment then sighed again. “Four years ago my parents died in a car accident on their way back from a Christmas party. I didn’t let Emma blame Christmas for it. I didn’t let her hate it. It was an accident and I knew it so I took her in and became her guardian and made sure that Christmas was still a good thing. It was easy still, to be cheerful because it was always our favorite time of year, the whole family.” He paused for few minutes, seeming to gather strength within himself to continue talking. “Last year, a week before Christmas…Emma got sick. Really sick. Leukemia is a scary word to hear as an adult…but to know that your sister has it…a week before a time of miracles and magic…”

“I’m so sorry.” Hiccup whispered as he pulled Jack down to him, hugging him tightly. “That can’t have been easy on either of you.”

“She spent Christmas, and New Year, and Valentine’s Day, and all of March in the hospital. They said they caught it early so it was better but she still suffered. But Emma was strong and knew she was going to beat it. She did, earlier than most thought she’d managed. She’s only been cancer free for a few months now but she’s still too weak. The therapy took a lot from her and…” Jack went silent again and this time he simply laid his head on Hiccup’s shoulder.

Neither was sure how long they stayed there, sitting on the floor of Jack’s office, uncaring of the world around them but soon North returned looking worried and Emma-less. Jack flew into a panic immediately even as his Uncle reassured him that Merida said Emma hadn’t left the building. Hiccup excused himself quietly, he had a feeling he knew where the girl was hiding at. He stepped out of the elevator once the short trip was over and didn’t even look at Pitch, not wanting to explain what happened or why he’d taken so long to deliver some paper to Jack. He moved quietly toward his work station and stood for a moment before stooping down to peer under his desk.

“He’s really upset isn’t he?” Emma asked quietly from where she sat hiding under the man’s desk.

Hiccup groaned dramatically as he got down onto the floor, smiling when the girl giggled. “Well…”

Emma crawled out partially from under the desk to see him better as he leaned against the drawers of the sturdy desk. “He hates me doesn’t he?”

“No, he doesn’t hate you.” Hiccup answered immediately. “He’s worried about you.”

She made a noise of frustrating. “But I’m fine.”

Hiccup watched her for a long moment. “Emma, he’s scared.”

The girl looked confused and then frowned and shook her head. “Jack isn’t afraid of anything.”

“All big brothers are afraid of something. Just like all parents are afraid of things.” Hiccup said with a small smile. “Jack just has to be brave so you don’t know that he’s scared.”

Emma rested her head on her knees as she drew them to her chest. “I said mean things to him. Jack’s always been there for me and he always tried to encourage me and keep me smiling. And I was mean to him and said things that hurt him.”

“I said hurtful things to my father growing up. Merida and her mom fought a lot until Merida got older. People make mistakes, fathers, mothers, brothers…even sisters make mistakes.” Hiccup spoke softly and offered a small smile when Emma slowly looked up at him. “Thing is, you gotta learn from it. But you realized you made a mistake and you’re sorry for it.”

“Jack is hurt because of me, isn’t he?” she asked, looking to Hiccup for something, guidance perhaps.

Hiccup canted his head to the side slightly and then sighed as he reached out and Emma crawled over to him and curled up against his side. “I think he might be. But he’s trying, isn’t he? And Jack loves you so even if he’s hurt, it’ll get better.”

“I don’t want to go by myself.” Emma confessed in a whisper. “I don’t want to see Jack alone. Go with me Hiccy.”

Hiccup hesistated and was about to deny the request when another voice spoke from over the cubicle wall. “He has nothing else to do today. I suggest you make Hiccup take you out for ice cream.”

Both looked up to stare at Pitch who stared back down at them. The twin looks of surprise almost made Pitch smile, almost. Amber eyes fixed on Hiccup and he gave him a warning look that told him point blank not to argue.

“And when you get up there, tell that blundering oaf of an Uncle to stop aggravating Frost. It’s bad enough I have to deal with the Uncle seasonally, I don’t need an overly emotional nephew having a break down.” Pitch stated before disappearing from view.

Hiccup and Emma sat staring up for a moment longer before slowly looking down to each other and then Hiccup shrugged. “Looks like I’ve got the rest of the day off.”

“Did I get you in trouble?” she asked quietly.

“Nah,” Hiccup said with a laugh as he slowly got to his feet only to complain about being old and then making Emma help him, the girl laughing as she did so. “Pitch needs me because I’m so good at my job. I’m too important to get in trouble.”

A loud rude noise came from Pitch’s office but Hiccup ignored it as he reached out and scooped Emma up into his arms. The decided with a small nod of the head to go back upstairs and calm Jack down. Hiccup spoke with North, meeting the large man properly, while the siblings spoke in Jack’s office. It was nearly a half hour later when Jack stepped out of the office with Emma in tow. There was something unreadable in his gaze as he watched Hiccup and the other couldn’t help but feel like he’d done something wrong. Still, he didn’t protest when Emma announced that they were all going to get ice cream because Pitch told them too.

 

xXx

 

Hiccup was deep into his work, fingers flying over the keys of his keyboard as he punched in line after line of code, the numbers and commands falling together in perfect harmony. Really, numbers were close to perfect…the hand writing of the gods and he didn’t care what anyone said. The green eyed man was so enthralled in his work that he didn’t notice the person approaching from the side until it was too late. A cold hand pressed against the back of his neck and Hiccup nearly leapt out of his skin, his metal knee slamming into the desk and rattling everything on the surface.

He turned quickly and stared at Jack who stood behind him, holding the can of soda that Hiccup had been previously drinking, apparently saving it from tipping over like the pen holder had already done.

Jack had a grin on his face that promised Hiccup a lot of trouble, and Hiccup was surprised that he could already read most of the other man’s facial expressions. Maybe he was getting in too deep.

“Jack?” Hiccup questioned before glancing down at his watch. It wasn’t time for their usual lunch break. “What are you doing here?”

Jack grinned again and handed back the drink. “I’m commandeering you.”

Hiccup frowned. “I’m not a ship…and you aren’t a pirate.”

“I could be one. Well, we could be a ship…you could be…I could be…” Jack trailed off and squinted slightly, scrunching his nose rather adorably in thought. “Like the Wonder Twins…or maybe…Power Rangers? We fuse together and make a ship?”

“That’d be a huge ship considering the size of your ego Frost.” Gogo quipped as she walked past, heading toward Pitch’s office.

Jack stared after the dark haired woman. “Did she call me fat?”

“Uh…” Hiccup blinked a few times and let his gaze trail over Jack briefly before darting up to his face at the other man turned toward him again. “Why are you here exactly?”

“I have decided something.” Jack stated as if it would explain everything.

Hiccup blinked owlishly at his friend. “And…what is that?”

Jack stared for a moment then blinked and grinned. “You make Christmas less painful.”

“I do?”

“Yes, you do. Weren’t you listening?”

“Yes…”

“So, I’ve decided that since Tadashi won’t leave me alone and Rapunzel is in no mood to properly plan a Christmas party because she’s too busy planning her wedding thing and dragging your cousin out of the grips of whatever depressive funk she’s bottled herself into…you are going to help me plan the Christmas Party.”

Hiccup shook his head immediately. “Wait, what?”

“Have you hit your head recently?” Jack was frowning.

“No, have you?” Hiccup prompted as he continued to stare up at Jack as though he weren’t sure who exactly he was looking at. “I thought you didn’t like Christmas.”

Jack nodded. “I don’t actually. I can’t stand it. But you and Emma seem to make it less painful so I’m going to do this. That an my Uncle North has declared that he’s moving in with us until I’ve rediscovered the magic of Christmas. So, Pitch already knows that I’m stealing you to help me plan the company party.”

Hiccup blinked owlishly again. “The company party?”

“Yes that one.” Jack stated.

“That’s happening in a week?” Hiccup questioned with a small frown.

Again Jack nodded. “Right.”

“And I’m doing this because…?” Hiccup wasn’t putting the dots together at all.

Jack sighed and shook his head before holding up the folder that had been in his hand, which Hiccup had neglected to notice until it was in front of his face. He went momentarily cross-eyed and stared at it before leaning back slightly.

“Tadashi doesn’t know how to plan parties.” Jack declared as he waved the folder around.

“And you do?” Hiccup asked.

Jack gave him a look. “Of course I do, I’m the embodiment of fun and parties.”

Immediately Hiccup tried not to over think what he’d been told. He needed to go out more…get laid maybe. Jack mentions being the embodiment of fun and immediately his mind went in the wrong direction picking Jack in less than appropriate ways for a coworker. He cleared his throat.

“Okay so, let me get this straight. You’re making me help you plan the Christmas party and Pitch allowed it? And the owner of the company, Mr. Black, won’t care if we aren’t getting work done on company time.” Hiccup stated with a frown.

Jack hummed slightly. “Yeah, that’s the gist of it. So let’s go, we have to find an 11-foot tree.”


	5. Getting Ready and An Almost Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like we’re getting close to the end of this little…mess here that I’ve been working on. I apologize that these last two are late. I really tried to get them done before Christmas but it’s hard.

Jack frowned as he looked down at the different things in the folder spread out on the table in front of him before tapping a picture with his pinky as he scooped rice out of the take-out box with his chopsticks. Hiccup leaned over to see what he was motioning to and shook his head then swallowed and shook his head again.

“No, no way. Drawing a line at mistletoe.” Hiccup stated. “I can’t support your party if you’ve got mistletoe.”

Jack wrinkled his nose in confusion as he took a drink of his tea before sitting back in his seat. “Why not?”

Hiccup sighed and gave Jack a deadpanned look. “What is so amazing about kissing under parasitic tree fungus?”

Jack’s eyes widened. “What! No it isn’t!” There was a long moment of silence as Hiccup stared at him blankly before Jack fidgeted. “Is it? No it’s not. You’re lying.” Hiccup watched him pull out his phone and check the facts before laughing at Jack’s indignant cry of dismay and mild terror. “Oh my gods! That’s just nasty. And people willingly kiss under that! No, we’re not having it. We’ll come up with something else.”

“Right, well maybe we can ask some of the girls or something. They’re good with that stuff.” Hiccup suggested before turning back to his coconut chicken and rice. “You were right, by the way.”

“Not that I don’t love hearing that,” Jack looked up with a grin. “Why was I right this time?”

Hiccup motioned to the food in his hand. “This is ridiculously good.”

Jack beamed and nodded before digging into his own meal. The two were sitting in the largest room in the local event center that the company was renting for the party, trying to get an idea of what they wanted to do with the limited amount of time they had left. Tadashi and Rapunzel had done a good job so far with the decorations but Jack felt they were too bland or that there wasn’t enough. Hiccup just thought Jack had finally tipped off the deep end, of course he had enough self-preservation to keep that part to himself. They looked around the large hall and Jack nodded.

“The company picked a good place this year. Last year the place they rented was really bad. It was old and falling apart, really gross actually.” Jack commented absently. “But this one is nice.”

Hiccup nodded slightly and glanced at the test of his new program on his laptop before grinning. It was coming along swimmingly. “Right, so today the two trees are being delivered and your Uncle will be here to help us get his station set up.” He glanced at the list in front of him. “Rapunzel, Tadashi, and Guy will be here after work to help set up the tables and Merida will come after that to help with additional decorations and bring dinner.”

“Right, and then Yuna and her friends are coming to set up for the music. Cass is going to come check the kitchen situation. Good thing Tadashi convinced her to cater, we’d have been screwed if it weren’t for that woman.” Jack continued as he went over the plans for the day.

“That’s what happens when you wait until the last minute to discover you have Christmas spirit still.” Hiccup stated with a roll of his eyes.

Jack hummed softly and shook his head. “I still don’t like Christmas, you guys just make it easier to suffer through it.”

The two said nothing after that until they finished eating their lunch. Jack started to draw up the plans for where he wanted the tables and Hiccup went over some stuff for his program. It was the only way he’d been convinced that he wouldn’t get fired, having Pitch yell at him to get out of the office and to bring the laptop to the event center so he could still work on the program when Jack didn’t need his help.

A set of double doors opened and three voices were heard almost immediately.

“Woah!”

“Great sound in this place.”

“It’s big…”

“Do you guys see the size of this place?”

“We have eyes Rikku.”

“All right girls, time to be serious.”

Hiccup and Jack looked up to see the women coming in, each carrying various sets of equipment. Jack got up and moved over to greet Yuna, Rikku, and Paine and get them started with the set up. Once everything was done with them he came back and dragged Hiccup away from the computer to start moving tables around. North soon arrived with Emma in tow along with Hiro and another friend of theirs named Jamie. He seemed like a good enough kid, if a little bit like Jack with his over the top imagination.

“Ya need any more help?”

“Bunny!” Emma squealed as she ran over to the man and all but jumped on him.

The tall man rolled his eyes as he scooped the giggling girl up as if she weighed nothing and cradled her against his chest. “Not that again, can’t ya drop it ankle-biter?”

Needless to say, Aster and North were put in charge of some of the heavier and taller tasks. Cass was the next to arrive with her friend and friendly shop rival Tiana to get started for the prep work they’d have to do in the kitchen, and to get an idea of what would be needed to really get started. Hiccup took a step back to watch as Jack ordered people around, giving the kids tasks to start making the popcorn garland and snowflakes and such. Thankfully the trees were delivered, large and lush things. Hiccup still didn’t know how Jack managed to find these perfect trees considering how late in the season it was.

Tadashi, Rapunzel, and Guy arrived with M.K. and Nod coming to offer help and everyone started to work on stringing the trees. North was everywhere like an eager child and Hiccup still couldn’t see how the man was supposed to be Santa but…He shook his head and got to work arranging and rearranging the tables with Guy, the two arguing about the mathematics of how many could fit and where to fit along with safety codes and such. Eventually things managed to get settled and most of the volunteered help trickled off to do whatever they needed to do and Merida came in with boxes of pizza, the one on top had a large E on it, Anna coming in behind her with two large cubes of sugary sodas and a grin on her face.

“It’s lookin’ nice.” Merida said with a nod as she looked over the room, holding a paper plate with pizza on it in her hand. “We’re needin’ tae do nao?”

Hiccup glanced over at the girl as he finished his own plate of pizza and tossed it into the large rolling trash can that was filled with stuff. “Table cloths, hanging garland and stuff, a few more random things…And getting that area over there ready.” He pointed over to a large red and gold chair that sat near the two trees. “Which is where the kids of the company workers can get pictures with Santa.”

She nodded in understanding and turned back to the table where most of the people left sat eating and finished her own food before following Hiccup’s lead and tossing it into the trash. She roped Aster into helping her start hanging the decorations on the wall as he was the only other person finished. Hiccup retreated to a corner to get some programming done while he waited for Jack to figure out what else they needed. Really the place was fantastic and Hiccup couldn’t imagine that it needed anything else. He waved to Cass and Tiana as they closed up and left discussing what they were going to start making the next day.

A sudden coughing from the table had everyone turning to look at Emma. Jack was tense as he stood several steps behind his sister, ready to lunge for her at a moment’s notice.

“It’s all right.” Tadashi said as he looked over the girl sitting across from him. “She choked on her soda because Hiro made her laugh while she was taking a drink.”

“I’m okay.” Emma said after a moment with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry.”

Hiccup watched as tension seemed to bleed from Jack as he sighed and nodded. Thankfully Anna drew his attention away from his sister to the decorations for the tables. After several moments everyone went back to their designated tasks, green eyes turning back to the computer screen as numbers and symbols scrolled past, appearing with Hiccup’s rapid keystrokes.

“Hey Jack, where are you going to put the mistletoe?” Anna asked as she looked around curiously.

Hiccup smiled when Jack made a small noise, he lifted his gaze from his laptop screen to look over at the two when others in the room looked over to see what the answer was.

“We aren’t having any.” Jack stated immediately. “I don’t think it’s professional and since this is an office party and we don’t want to cause any uncomfortable-ness…”

Merida snorted. “Jack we’ve had it every year. Ya can’t jus decide that ya don’ want it.”

“No one has ever had a problem with it before.” Anna pointed out, a frown on her face.

Jack squirmed under the gazes in the room and finally he cracked. “Fine! Hiccup told me that it was fungus! And that’s nasty!”

“Shoulda known.” Merida stated with a shake of her head.

“Is it really?” Hiro asked.

Immediately the three children turned to hunch over Hiro’s phone as he pulled it out. Several moments later there were sounds of disbelief from the trio and then Tadashi and Anna. Hiccup laughed and Merida shook her head again. She was used to this sort of thing. She and Aster went back to hanging the garland in gentle arches from the different lamps on the wall.

“So what are we going to do then? We have to have something like mistletoe.” Anna seemed to be rather distressed about the idea of not having a sprig of plant to kiss under.

Emma spoke up after a moment. “What about a kissing ball? I’ve seen them on pinterest and stuff. We can always make one of those with holly…is holly a fungus too?”

It was Aster who spoke up rather quickly, it surprised Hiccup to be honest. “Nah, holly is related ta yer evergreens.”

“A kissing ball?” Jack repeated.

His sister shrugged slightly. “Yeah you can make them out of all kinds of things. I could do it pretty easily.”

After some thought, and a glance at Hiccup for his nod of approval, Jack agreed and the subject was put to rest. They had a lot to do and the party was two days away. Everyone worked quickly and effectively, Tadashi taking the kids to help him start decorating the area around Santa’s chair. After an hour or so Anna lifted her head suddenly.

“Oh! Jack! Can we invite family members to the party? I wanted to bring my sister with me since she’s not going to be doing anything.” Anna asked with a small smile.

Jack grinned. “Yeah! The more the merrier!”

Anna cheered and went back to smoothing out the table cloths and setting down the different decorative table features in the center. They worked diligently, and as he was known to do, Hiccup lost himself in the program he was writing. It wasn’t until the lights went out that he lifted his head, blinking owlishly at the sudden change.

“Is it that interesting?” Jack asked in a whisper.

Hiccup blinked a few more times and his eyes adjusted to the limited light in the room. Why was Jack so quiet? It took a moment for him to realize that Jack was carrying his sister like an overgrown toddler. He saved what he was working on and shut the screen of the machine before standing hastily.

“Is she okay?” he asked, his voice low.

Jack nodded slightly. “Yeah, she’s fine. She just gets tired easily and she’s been busy today.”

“Here, let me carry her. Grab my laptop?” Hiccup offered, reaching out for the girl. “You look like you’re about ready to fall over.”

Jack nodded and willingly passed over his sister. The girl was too tall for him to carry well but she’d fallen asleep in the Santa chair roughly two hours or so after everyone else had left for the night and he didn’t have the heart to wake her up more than to pick her up. Hiccup easily shifted the small girl into his arms, easing her back to sleep when she woke up long enough to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist sleepily.

“She’s so light.” Hiccup murmured.

Jack nodded again as he grabbed the laptop and charger cord. “Side effect of the cancer, I think. Or she might be taking after mum. Our mother was really small too, thin bones. We called her bird sometimes because of how easily she was injured.”

Hiccup nodded slightly but didn’t say anything as he followed Jack out to the car. They’d rode over together from work and Hiccup really didn’t want to deal with going and picking up his bike from the parking lot.

“Once we get her settled in then I can drive you home.” Jack offered, leading the way.

Hiccup nodded appreciatively. “Thanks.”

Jack said nothing but nodded as he opened the back door and Hiccup put Emma in the seat, taking extra care to buckle her in. The trip to Jack’s house was mostly quiet, something soft played absently on the radio as Hiccup watched the passing scenery of houses and building covered in lights. Burgess really went all out when it came to Christmas. They didn’t talk, there was no reason to do so, and really the silence was comfortable between them. When they pulled into the driveway of the small but nice home, Hiccup took it upon himself to get Emma from the back.

Jack grabbed her school bag and his own bags and headed up to unlock the front door as Hiccup held the girl in his arms carefully. He was afraid to hold her too tightly, she might break! Soon however he was in and kicked the door shut with his foot. Emma made a noise but didn’t wake up, her head nestled tightly on his shoulder and partially up under his chin.

“Mind carrying her to her room?” Jack asked quietly as he flicked on the hall light.

Hiccup shook his head. “No, I don’t mind.”

He followed Jack down the hall and into Emma’s bedroom, carefully laying her down amongst the many stuffed animals and pillows on her bed. He stepped back and watched as Jack eased her out of her jacket then her sweater and took off her socks and shoes. He was quick, probably from years of practice as he took off her headband and eased her down again. He pulled the soft green blankets up around her chin and carefully tucked the oversized Tyrannosaurs Rex stuffed animal under her arm.

“Will you turn on her box?” Jack asked with a whisper as he slowly built up a wall of stuffed creatures along her back and her head.

Hiccup turned slightly to look at the box in question and nodded before grabbing it and twisting the small winding key underneath. He set it down and lifted the top, smiling when a piano version of the Jurassic Park theme began to play softly. What a strange kid.

“Jurassic Park?” he asked in a whisper.

Jack smiled and nodded. “It was the first movie we went and saw together without our parents when we were younger. She’s been in love with it ever since. North made that for her when she was mad that all the music boxes had ballerinas and stuff on them. But she still does her girlish stuff so…”

Hiccup nodded. “At least you don’t try to conform her.”

“Have you met my sister?” Jack asked in a whisper with a small laugh. “The girl is more opinionated than anyone else I’ve ever met…except maybe you.”

“Better to be opinionated than following blindly.” Hiccup said, defending himself. “Besides, she gets all that from you.”

The two men left the room before they woke up Emma, not wanting to risk the wrath of an over tired child. Jack left Emma a quick note on his door in case she woke up while they were gone and soon they were on their way to Hiccup’s house after Jack set the alarm and locked the doors. Hiccup drummed his fingers on the top of his laptop, humming along with the song on the radio.

“Thank you.” Jack said suddenly, causing Hiccup to look over at him in surprise.

“For what?” Hiccup asked with a small frown.

Jack didn’t take his eyes off the road as he continued to drive. After a moment he licked his lips and then explained himself. “For going along with this? For letting me drag you all over the place and away from work to do this stupid party.”

Hiccup hummed in understanding. “It’s not a stupid party if it makes people happy. You know that.”

Jack nodded slightly. “Still, you didn’t have to come with me on this adventure. I mean, you’ve only been at the company for a few months and already you’re neck deep in all this company stuff.”

“Occupational hazard of working for Pitch Black.” Hiccup mused with a grin.

“Technically you work for Sirius Black.” Jack pointed out. “And no they aren’t related. We’ve tried to figure that one out. They are both just Englishmen from overseas who have the same last name and sometimes can out snark each other.”

Hiccup laughed and shook his head. “And where does Aster fit into Pitch Black’s life?”

Jack grinned and shot a look briefly over to Hiccup before looking at the road again. “They’re screwing each other. Emma says it’s true love…I don’t think Pitch is capable of loving.”

“You’re terrible.” Hiccup said, laughing louder. “Everyone is capable of it. I just don’t know if he knows the meaning of the word. We should try and get them together under the kissing ball to make sure everyone knows.”

Jack grinned. “And you call me terrible…I’m game.”

Hiccup laughed again and the laughter between them carried on for several minutes before dying down into companionable silence once more. Soon however they pulled up in front of Hiccup’s house and sat for several moments.

“Thanks again.” Hiccup said with a small nod toward his front door. “For dropping me off.”

Jack waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get you tomorrow morning so we can go finish up the event center.”

Hiccup nodded in agreement and the two sat staring for a long moment. Neither was sure who moved, maybe they both did, but suddenly they were much closer, leaning in towards each other. A car door slammed, startling them both and Hiccup pulled away quickly.

“See you tomorrow Jack.” he said as he opened his door and stepped out into the freezing night air.

Jack made a small sound and offered a limp wave, watching to make sure that Hiccup got into the house before groaning and letting his head hit the steering wheel only to sit up when the horn when off loudly. Hastily he peeled away, cursing himself for his stupidity. Damn it! He’d almost finally kissed Hiccup!


	6. Jack Frost Nipping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the end. It took longer than I expected so I’m sorry for that.

Rapunzel and Hiccup stepped into the event room and the blonde smiled brightly as she looked around the room. Cass and Tiana followed them shortly after and the two disappeared into the kitchen to get the rest of the treats for the Christmas party.

“It looks amazing.” Rapunzel gushed as she danced around excitedly. “We really have to thank you for all this Hiccup.”

He frowned slightly and turned to look over at the woman. “What? I didn’t do anything. This was you guys.”

She let out a happy sigh and shook her head. “No not really. Tadashi and I have no idea how to plan a party and Guy really only knows how to ambush people and survive in the forest…which doesn’t make much sense. But Jack really is a king of party planning and if it hadn’t been for you…” She turned earnest green eyes to the tall man. “If it weren’t for you then he wouldn’t have agreed to do all this.”

Hiccup looked around for a moment and then nodded slightly. “He did a really good job picking up where you guys stopped.”

Rapunzel merely smiled before turning and waving at Tadashi and Hiro as they came into the room. There was an hour to finish up the small things before the party started. Jack was on his way with Emma and Jamie, having picked the kids up from the mall where they’d been helping North as his Santa Elves. Then North would arrive later as Santa and entertain the children for a bit. A few other parents were bringing their children so it would worth it to see their faces.

“So what do we have left to do?” Tadashi asked, looking around at the flawlessly decorated room.

Cass laughed as she approached them. “You guys can help us get the cookies and other sweets out onto the buffet table.”

They filed over to the small kitchen as Tiana began to load plates and stick them in the wide window that opened into the room where delicious smells were coming. Cass and Tiana had prepared everything in their cafes so it would be a fast process.

“We’re leaving these ones blank so people can decorate them later.” Tiana explained when Hiccup frowned at several plates of unfrosted cookies.

He smiled and nodded in agreement. “Seems like a good idea.”

“Hiro put it down.” Cass warned behind them and neither wanted to turn and look, much safer to stay busy with their own tasks.

It was some time later when the door opened and shuffling was heard coming into the large room as the others were going around plugging in the many strings of Christmas lights and getting the trees lit up.

“Hiccy!”

Hiccup looked up in time to see Emma dashing toward him, a bag in her hand as she did. He barely had time to brace himself before he was all but tackled by the hyper girl, Jamie making his way over to Hiro who was sulking after getting hit with the spatula.

“Hey kiddo.” Hiccup greeted as he got to his feet, which was difficult with Emma hanging off of him. “You’re hyper today.”

“It’s been forever since I saw you!” she moaned as Jack muttered something darkly.

Hiccup frowned, leaning down to look at her closely, a skeptical look on his face. “You just saw me yesterday and every day this week.”

She had a strange grin on her face as she reached up and squished his cheeks together. “It’s been a whole 24 hours!”

Hiccup pulled away laughing as Jack continued to mutter angrily as he approached them. Green eyes watched the shorter male worriedly. Hopefully he wasn’t planning on running away from this thing, that wouldn’t end well for him. Still, Emma was chatting about her day as a mall elf and Hiccup nodded along appropriately.

“What’s in the bag Emma?” Hiccup asked suddenly, watching the grocery bag swing around again.

Emma blinked and then handed it over to him. “I made it for the party! It’s the kissing ball…kissing crystal ball…just take it.”

“She spent hours working on it.” Jack stated as he finally reached them, nodding in greeting.

Hiccup took the bag from Emma and then reached inside, pulling out a leafy ball that had been glued and sewn together to make the round shape. The leaves were fake holly with glitter glue around the edges and the small red berries were covered in glitter as well and a large crystal hung beneath it.

“You hang it by the ribbon.” Emma explained when Hiccup hooked his finger through the satin material.

Hiccup smiled and nodded. “It’s very nice. This is to replace the fungus?”

Emma nodded excitedly. “Where should we hang it?”

“I’ll hang it, how about you two worry about the lights.” Tadashi offered as he walked past them, grabbing the decoration from Hiccup’s hand carefully.

“Oh are we lighting the lights?” Emma asked excitedly.

“I just finished but why don’t you go see if Yuna and her friends need any help.” Hiccup suggested with a nod toward the door where the women were coming in with several people in tow bringing in cases of equipment.

The brunette child grinned and dashed off as Hiccup turned to Jack curiously. The pale haired man was following his sister’s movements with his eye, a worried look haunting them.

“Something wrong?” Hiccup questioned softly, reaching out to touch Jack’s shoulder comfortingly.

They’d avoided the topic of the almost kiss since it’d happened, not that much time had really passed between them since that time but still…he hoped that it wasn’t going to make things awkward between them.

Jack offered a small smile and shrug looking rather tired. “She had a fever this morning when she got up and then fought with me all morning about taking it easy.”

Immediately Hiccup looked over at Emma as she hovered around Yuna, the older woman calmly and patiently explaining things with Rikku helping…sort of. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, it’s gone now but…” Jack sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Sometimes you just have to worry about stuff.”

Hiccup nodded, crossing his arms casually over his chest as he watched Emma like a hawk. “Still, if you think it’ll be too much for her.”

Jack shook his head. “She’d never forgive me if I made her leave early.”

“It shouldn’t last too long, people have plans and such…it is three days before Christmas you know.” Hiccup offered with a small smile.

“Yeah that’s true. Come on, let’s see what else needs to be done before this thing gets started.” Jack prompted as he headed over to where Rapunzel and Tadashi were…talking animatedly to each other and pointing at something.

 

xXx

 

The party was in full swing and, a smashing success if he had anything to say about it. Hiccup stood near the punch bowl with a small cup in his hand, watching his coworkers and their family members mingle and enjoy the evening. The kids were having fun and surprisingly behaving themselves. Cass and Tiana kept the table filled with cookies and candies and sweets, delicious smells wafting from the small kitchen and filling the immediate area as Yuna and her band covered various Christmas songs. So far he hadn’t heard The Christmas Song and suspected that Jack had something to do with that.

“Yer bein’ anti-social.” Merida commented as she walked over with a glass of eggnog in hand.

Hiccup eyed the cup suspiciously. “Did you add some comfort to that?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Nah, not yet. I’ll wait ‘til I’m home.”

Hiccup laughed as Merida winked then downed the drink and tossed the cup into the trash then began to walk away. She was looking for something to distract herself with. Seeing Astrid had really messed her up and had thrown her off for weeks. Gogo was waving at her from across the room and she waved back before beginning to cross over to the Asian. The two liked to be sarcastic about the people around them, maybe she could set up a time to go jogging again. It was always fun to race the woman.

“Watch out!”

Something collided into her side and immediately Merida reached out to catch the other person before she hit the ground. People had stopped to look at them and Merida finally looked down to see who she’d caught.

“Are ya all right?” she asked softly as she pulled the other woman to her feet.

The platinum blonde nodded, a light blush on her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I’m not usually the clumsy one…that’s my sister’s job.”

“Elsa!” Anna exclaimed as she finally made it to the two. “Are you all right? I saw you slip.”

Elsa pulled away suddenly from Merida’s grip and offered a polite smile then nodded and motioned to the redhead. “Ah, yes Anna I’m fine. Luckily I was, caught.”

Anna smiled brightly. “Merida! Good thing you were around. But now you’ve met my sister. Elsa this is Merida, she’s our head of security at the company.”

“This is Merida?” Elsa repeated sounding surprised as the redhead blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, Anna speaks about you often.”

“Not wut ya expected?” Merida asked with a grin.

Elsa smiled, a bright thing that seemed to light up the area around her and nodded before laughing softly. “I guess that’s terrible of me.”

Anna looked between the two ladies and grinned before slipping away quietly as Merida began to talk to Elsa. This was too perfect! The younger of the women looked through the crowd and when she caught her cousin’s attention she motioned toward Merida and Elsa then made a heart with her hands. Rapunzel looked over and grinned then nodded and winked before getting pulled back into a dance with Flynn.

Anna hurried over to Kristoff and looped her arm through his, leaning her head against his arm and giggling. “I think Elsa found someone special.”

The blond man looked around before Anna pointed him in the direction where Merida and Elsa stood away from most of the other party goers to talk more easily. “They look like they could be cute together.” he agreed.

Hiccup also watched his cousin for a moment before becoming aware of the presence beside him. He glanced to his side and smiled at Jack when then other man looked at him and grinned slightly.

“Are you guarding the drink table?” Jack asked with a grin.

“What?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

Jack laughed and nodded toward the table. “You’ve been over here most of the night.”

“Maybe I am then.” Hiccup mused as he tossed his empty cup away into the can.

He and Jack wandered from the table toward the area where people were dancing, once again just enjoying the air between them. Hiccup grinned slightly when an upbeat version of ‘Rockin Around the Christmas Tree’ started and grabbed Jack’s hand, pulling him onto the dance floor.

“Come on Mr. Frost, you owe me at least one dance.” Hiccup stated as he turned to face Jack, pulling him closer.

Jack laughed but gave in and the two danced around in silly little circles to the quick beat. He was surprised that Hiccup was actually good at dancing, even if it wasn’t anything fancy. The song ended and they broke apart laughing and clapping for the girls as they set a series of instrumental songs to play while they took a break from their playing. Immediately Emma, Hiro, and Jamie brought over drinks and cookies to the band members, having already been aware of the plan to take a break.

“I really feel like I should thank you again.” Jack murmured as they walked around the room, greeting people they knew.

Hiccup shook his head. “It’s fine, you needed help so I helped.”

Jack looked like he wanted to say more but didn’t and instead made a small face then shook his head. Hiccup stopped beside him and turned to ask him what was on his mind when Tadashi suddenly appeared beside them.

“You two are caught.” he said before stepping back and motioning above them.

Oh by the gods…please no…Jack looked up and swore and Hiccup sighed heavily. They were under the damn kissing ball. Slowly he looked up as well and stared at the innocent decoration hanging above them. It was near the trees and Santa’s chair where North, a surprisingly awesome Santa, was sitting and talking to the children gathered around him. The two men stared at the kissing ball above them before looking at each other.

Hiccup offered a smile and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Jack’s cheek close to the corner of his mouth before pulling away. “No harm done.”

Jack stared for a moment and then reached out and grabbed Hiccup’s jacket then pulled him close, kissing him full on the lips. Hiccup’s brain short-wired for a moment then seemed to kick start as he pulled Jack close to him, almost dipping the smaller male. A loud whoop broke them apart, the two panting lightly as they looked around wildly. Merida was grinning from beside a laughing Elsa and Anna.

The two men blushed and cleared their throats, looking away from each other. Clearly they’d forgotten where they were. People went back to ignoring them, and really the only ones who’d been paying attention were their close friends…and Emma. The girl had a wide grin on her face as she approached them.

“You kissed each other, now you have to get married.” she stated causing Jack to choke on air.

Hiccup blushed darkly but managed to keep a straight face as he looked at the girl. “That escalated quickly.”

She stared at him for a moment. “But you two like each other so there isn’t a problem.”

Before either had a chance she turned and skipped off toward Cass, probably looking for some more cocoa. The two finally looked at each other again and Hiccup grinned.

“So then the almost kiss wasn’t me hallucinating.” Hiccup said after a moment.

Jack smiled and shook his head. “No, I really wanted to kiss you then too.”

“Come here then.” Hiccup said reaching out to Jack and pulling him close to him. “If we’re being honest, I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while.”

“I’m not stopping you.” Jack said with a grin.

They kissed again and again before remembering they were at a company party and pulled away before things got too heated. They stayed close to each other and Jack canted his head to the side as a familiar song filled the air.

“I told them not to play this song.” he complained.

Hiccup grinned. “You can’t have a party without The Christmas Song.”

Jack sighed. “I hate this song.”

“Why? Cause Jack Frost is nipping at noses?” Hiccup teased before leaning down and giving Jack a quick peck on the end of his nose.

The smaller male glared. “Careful or I’ll nip at something else.”

“Sounds promising.”

“You’re horrible.”

“You went there first.”

Jack sighed and shook his head before leaning up and rubbing his nose against Hiccup’s. He smiled and then laughed before pulling the man down to kiss him again.

“Do you like Christmas again?” Hiccup asked once they separated.

Jack made a thoughtful noise. “I’m starting to rediscover an appreciation for the comfort and joy stuff.”


End file.
